The Sun. — London, England, 1810-01-03 00:00:00

DIE LATE B,ITTLES IN 4SP,eIILV. FRENCH OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS. BATTLE OF ALBA DE TORMES, Nov. zB. The Duke del Parque, not having dared to receive iet•tle at Carpi°, and having resolved to retreat, ear ied his inteni ion. into effect very precipitately in [be night between the 26th and : stn. The dispositions Inc the attack were ordered, when we were inform ed of his movement. The army was immediately t. tit in pursuit of him, partly towards Trieno, partly t. rds Cauta la Pedro., and the cavalry towards on the road to Salamanca. On the 28th, at tour in the morning, each column put itself in toetionefroin its particular positions, the light cavalry 'healitig, followed by the second division of dragoons, .Ji:d the infantry of the . 6th corps. At Vittoria we receiv::'d certain information that the enemy had wirer, the direCtion of Alba de 'Formes. till we dtayaired of overtaking them, as they w ere ten hours ;a ad% emce e and had already reached the toot of the inntintait•s ; but fortune reserved for us the opeortu ;thy of a decisive success. At noon, Gen. Lerce:, with four hundred horse of the 3d hussars and lath {h , sseurs, pushed forward, followed, at an interval ,an hoer, by the dragoons and by General Mar eltand, commanding the 6th corps. On arriving on the Almar, General Lorcet met the enemy's posts, and threw them back upon the town. All their army Was found still there, posted one -part upon the right bank of the river, and the other part, with the w hole of the cavalry, upon the left bank. Gene ral Lr,wet, finding himself too weak, gale ground a little : the enemy took confidetice from this, and was already advancing with the sharp-shooters of his cavalry and :infantry behind the Almar. The second division of dragoons, augmented by the 15th and 25th dragoons, and four pieces of light artillery, came up at tour o'clock. They were ordered to proceed un der cover of a curtain, which covered their march upon the plains by which the enemy was advancing. The first brigade, composed of the 3d and 6th of dragoons, under the orders of General Millet, advanced in order of battle. As soon as, General Lo:cel reached the left of the enemy, a general charge of the two brigades was ordered, and was . executed with such vigour and promptitude, that in er instant the enemy's lines were broken o in spite of a shower of grape and musket bullets. Their cevalry fled without exchanging a stroke of a sabre, and partly repassed the river. The infantry was out to pieces, and five pieces of cannon taken.— There remained a second line of infantry. In the disorder into which •success itself had thrown our cavalry, it could not continue its charge, and it re turnof at full gallop, destroying all that it had pre viously i:assed, till it came and formed itself a seccnd time behind the brigades of Gen. Carrie and Col. Orneno, which were advancing. The 15th and,2sth • were placed in column on the flanks to charge the euemy's cavalry, which had returned to the support of their infantry. This charge, which had for its object the breaking of the second line of the ene my's infantry, had the same success as the former; the enemy's cavalry took flight in the most coward ly manner, never to appear again. Colonel Ornano, ot the head of the 25th dragoons, took four pieces of artillery. Psi - Om that time there was not another moon-shot flied, and the 25th dragoons found thamselves on the rear of the enemy's line. They hld time, however, to retire to a height difficult of access, and to form a square of from three to 4000 men. General Carrie was surrounding this body also, and the.re was reasonable ground to hope that • it would he forced to lay down its arms; but night was rapidly coming on, and was about to snatch our ptey from us. Officer after Officer hastened to call the light at tillery, which was at some distance; end in the !oval' time the square was summoned to sur render, but it could not be approached,,as troops of this description pay little respect to the usage or na- . Cons, and the charaaer of flags of truce. In the mean time the night fell, there was no artillery nor • ialantry, the enemy was on the point of escaping across the ravines that bordered their left. A charge was feigned, in order to intimidate them to surrender. rout this demonstration having no effect, the line re turned upon the rear of the square to keep it in check, while the first brigade of dragoons watched it in front. Gen. Marchand hastened the march of his infantry ; it arrived running : but it bad to climb a rocky mountain, and had already made a march of eight leagues ; it had been in motion since four o'clock in the , tnerniug, it was now half-past five in the even ing. At length the first brigade, commanded byGen. .r.vtineurte, an intrepid officer, arrived within vou toises of the *quare at the same time with the artil lery. It was night, and those who knew the position could scarely distinguish the enemy above from be 111W. General Maucune was placed in the proper rt , 6:7;on, and notwithstanding the darkness, received ortlefsto carry the square, and to enter the town. IPie brave infantry did not hesitate an infant : while if advanced 15 0r2,0 cannon shot were direded upon the square. At the first shot the vedettes of the dra goons saw the enemy break, and throw thetuselves into the ravines, the soldiers throwing away their arms and accoutrements, in order to escape more ra pidly. It was iropcasible for the cavalry to follow time fugitives. General Maucune, finding the ene my's roaition abandoned, pursued the eolurrin by tile sound of confused voices. He arrived at the town at the same moment with the enemy : he entered re solutely, tell on the teiloi the fugitives without firing a shot, killed 200 men with the bayonet, and made himself master of the bridge, together with two baktritzers. The night was so dark, that it was im possible to make. any farther movements ; each corps T. upon its position. In a few moments we saw all the force of the enemy upon the left of the Tormes extinguished. They all took to flight in the most frightful disorder, in every direction, seek ing safety in the neighbouring woods and moun tains. With the exception of the brigade of Mau cnne, the infantry had no occasion • to take any part in the business, and the affair has been decided prin cipally by the cavalry. This affair may tle consi dered decisive ; and the enemy's army, beaten and dispersed, will not be able to present itself again for a long time. This battle, from its importance, and frettu the results with will :h it is likely to be attended, is one of those which do most honour to the French cavalry. Fifteen pieces of cannon, six ;tandarcls, taken sword in hand; a General, many colonels,, and more than one hundred Officers (4 1F q thousan tten lying dead on the held KELLERMAN, The General of Division Commanding in Chief. Alta de 7'ormes, Aov. 29, l Bog. M. LE MA REC HA L—The. enemy's army, after hav ing escaped from Alba de Tonnes, under favour of the night, and in the greatest confusion, sought to gain the mountains without keeping in a body, which might have been the means of its protection, not one battalion was in a body ; every one sought safety as he could ; some took the direction of Salvatierra, others that. of Banos and Ciudad Bodrigo. In the morning of the 26th, it was impossible. for me to as certain the direction in which they were. I there fore took the resolution to throw colutus into the woods in the differeat points, in order to seize and bring in those dispersed among them. I advanced• myself upon San Pedro de Rakidos. About half way it had changed its direttion, and taken that of Monterabro,. to gain Banos. There was no village where we could get information, and the soil was so dry and firm, that we could not distinguish the traces of an army. In fine, we lost all traces of them. Having no longer, any hope of coming up with them, and being even certain of their dispersion, and of the impossibility of their again joining, so as to undertake any thing, I left to the bad weather the care of destroying them, and of completing their misery. Ignorant besides of what was passing at Madrid, anxious to give some intelligence of my proceedings, and to dispel the uneasiness his Ma jesty might have conceived, I resolved to return upon the line of my march, sending detachments in pursuit of the flying enemy. I have sent one di viiion to Salamanca, and have thrown another on Fuente Rable, in order to scour the front of the army, and have placed a• brigade of dragoons in re serve at Peymeranda 'de Transmonte, in order to sustain the brigade of infantry established at Alba, which I regard as the essential point. I have ex amined the Castle," which I find capable of being defended as long as a brave Commander could de sire. I have ordered it to be immediately put in a proper state. I have sent the 10th regiment of dra goons to Benevente, and.l take the ; ith -with me to Valladolid, to receive its new clothing. All the accounts received inform me that the enemy have lost in killed and wounded, and, above all, in dis persed, more than 10,000 men. The Gallicians and Asturians seek to regain their mountains, throw ing away theft arms. Their arms are found in every direction. Above 6000 muskets have already been broken or burned, and it may be affirmed with certainty, that this army is beyond the possibility of being re-organized or to-united, or appearing again in the field. It has lost its best troops, which Were the rear guard; and how could it dare to pre sent itself in the - plait, with the recollection, that two thousand cavalry, on unfavourable ground, had been sufficient to beat it, and to put it to the most complete rout. Accept, &c. (Signed) KELLXIIMAN, of ()Attie, or in the direalon of the pursuit ; and General officers, officers, and men—all have done 15,000 mu s kets taken or destroyed, are the trophies i their duty in the Most brilliant manner. of this vi€tory. We have made but few prisoners. ! [Here tbilows a long' list of Officers who distinguished The reports hitherto made, state but from 1600 to i 'themselves. .2000, among whom is a Colonel o f ar till er y. O ur (Signed) loss bears no proportion to that of the enemy. The total is but eighteen killed and titty-seven wounded. I hare the honour to be, &c. " Le Marechal Due de TREVISO." MAI LS. u s--4 Gottenburgh, 3 Waterford. PRICE Oh STOCKS THIS DAY A.T TWELVE O'CLOCK. Consols for Opening 7o Red. Ana. . . 69ifr THE SU-N. SOLEL4 c. 2015 DICiRE FALSUM AUDEAT ? L 0 N D 0 IV, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1810. BATTLE OP °CANA. The French account concludes thu; :—" To the most tremendous dischargeS of artillery and musket ry on the,part of the enemy, our battalions who had passed the point where our batteries were erected, reply only with a well-direded fire from a few ranks, and demi-battalions. After several destrudive rounds, which could not shake the courage ot our intrepid soldiers, the enemy's artillery was attacked closely, silenced, and forced to retire in the rear of their line. Three places were abandoned on the point against which the Bstli di re a e d their efforts. The impulse is given; the battalions of the fifth corps fly to the' charge, advance from one success to another, and are supported by the battalions of the 4th. Our troops carry all before theme, soon dislodged the corps of the enemy, which was posted at the town of Ocana. A rapid change of front, on the part of the 4th, succeeded by a charge, in which they were seconded by the 34th, forced the enemy to fly, at the same time abandoning their arms.— This movement secured to us the vidory. While these feats were being performed on the left and centre, .the division under the orderS of Genera! De solles, composed; for the moment, of the halt of the second brigade of General Gazan, half of the 55th and 58th regimenti, was stationed in front and on the right ot Ocana, to keep in check the troops which occupied that town, and the enemy's The moment they were apprized of the progress made on the centre and lef, the division crossed the rovin, and made a vigorous attack on the right of Ocana, and drove the enemy from that point with the greatest precipitation,. Then the cavalry under Sebastiani was put in motion, it advances with rapidity, and in an instant came up with the enemy, who, in his flight across the wood of Olive. trees, endeavoured to make for Barrios and Guardia. In vain did he attempt to etled his retreat in squaTe . column—his Columns were broken. The sion of light cavalry, composed of the regiment of pikemen, of the i mil hussars, the wth and 21st mounted chasseurs, commanded by General Beau reprd, sabre a numerous column on the left, and oblige 5000 seen to lay down their arms, alter having put to fight the Royal Carbineers, and about 3000 horsemen. At the same moment a brigacie of dragoons, putting itself in motion, in the interval left between theist and 2d division of the sth corps, charged .a column of. the enemy, whiCh they imme diately routed, compelled them to lay down their arms, killing a vast number with their sabre %, and took several pieces of cannon. They pursued them, the sword in their backs, to Guardia; at every step prisoners are picked up, and in the evening 20,000 Men, n 0 pieces of cannon, and 30 stand of colours, ' 1 were found in our possession. " Such is the result of this memorable battle, in I which 55,000 men, composed of the best troops which the insurredional Government of Seville (*.mid bring together, and 80 nieces of cannon, could not resist 24,00.0 soldiers, of 4 his Majesty the Emperor. Your Excellency has been a witness to the intrepidity hich these troops, of every deicription,..manilegod. We have this by continued our extraas from the Correspondence published in America, and hope to complete them to-morrow. It is impossible to read Mr. SMITH'S letters, with out noticing the very petulant tone in which they are couched, and the spirit of petty criticism which pervades all American Diplomacy. We shall give a full view of the nature and progress of the Discussions,' when oar Documents are complete; two points, however, we cannot help noticing, in the first instance : SMITH quotes the conduct of Mr. CAN NING towards Mr. PINCKNEY, as a' precedent for his refusal to communicate verbally with Mr. JACKSON. The extracts, however, from the cor respondence in London, in November, 1808, clearly shew that it was only to verbal communications, as Official Propositions requiring Official Answers, that Mr. CANNING objected, and that " to prepare the Way for a more formal mode of proceeding, ,by pre-. , liminary conversations," was always a part of Mr. CANNING'S intention and practice. One other observation is called for by an article in The Times, the Writer of which hints that Mr. CANNING concealed an important communication from Mr. ERSKINE, from which, as is supposed, it would appear that the American Government had substantially consented to the three Articles required in Mr. ERSKINE'S illSlttletiOHS, and that it was only owing to a deficiency of power in the American Exe cutive, that the public Convent ion fell short of these terms. To this a sufficient answer is furnished by /the uniform tenor of the language of Mr. MADISON and Mr. SMITH, by whom Mr. CANNING'S Proposi tion s are treated as "more than inadmissible." Without rating too highly the President of the United States, we cannot easily believe that he would speak in such terms of Propo4itions to which he had recently given his full consent. A number of vessels arrived yesterday from Hol land, and of course several letters have been received. The Decree for the annexation of Holland to Francs had not been received, but no doubt whatever was entertained that that measure would be speedily car-. ried into execution. A great depreciation of the funds had taken place, and the utmost distress pre, vailed among the merchants, as all hopes of preserv- ing even the small remains of their commerce had vanished. The army of Custom House Officers, which is to be employed in defending the Coasts of Holland from the invasion of British merchandize, had not entered the Dutch territories when the last accounts came away, but their arrival was hourly expected. We advert with much regret: to, the very unplea 'sant accounts which are said to have been received Torn the East Indies: That events have occurred there which are calculated to excite considerable uneasiness, we do not mean to deny, but we wish to guard our Readers from giving credit to all the exaggerated reports that are in circulation upon the subject. It has been rumoured that the routineeers had put to death one of the highest Civil Otficers in India, and imprisoned another.— To these rumours we give no credit. We trust, from the measures that have been adopted, that we shall so - on have to announce the complete termination of the unpleasant a ffair. It is reported, but we know not with what truth, that Lord WEL. LING - rm.; is to go. to India, with powers similar to those possessed by Lord CORNWALLIS. Yesterday morning the Duchess of YoHit left Windsor tor Oatlands. Yesterday a Cabinet Council was held at the Fo reign Office. There were present the LORD CHAN CELLOR, Marquis WELLESLEY, the Earls.Ol CAMDEN, LIVERPOOL, anti BATHURST, Lord MULGRAVE, the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, Mr. Secretary RIDER, and Mr. R. S. DUNDAS. Monday morning the Duke and Duchess of YORK, Dukes of KENT, CUMBERLAND, and SUSSEX, Prin cesses AUGUSTA and SOPHIA, accompanied by Earl HARCOURT, and Lord ST. HELEN'S, Lady CRANLEY, Generals CARTWRIGHT, MANNERS, and SPENCER, and Colonel TAYLOR, took their usual morning's nx ercise on horseback, in Windsor Great Park, till twelve o'clock. The ROAL DUKES paid a visit to their Royal Sis. ter, Princess AMELIA, as did also. the QUEEN, Duchess of YORK, and the PRINCESSES, His MA JE&Tv goes every day regularly at three o'clock, and iltops with her till four. NAVAL NEW& PLYMOUVI, JAN. I.—Arrived the American ship Caledonian, J. DICKSON, Master, from Norfolk, laden with tobacco, bound to Hamburgh ; the brig Robert and Sarah, W. SHEER, Master, from Oporto, laden with a cargo of wine and cork, bound to Guern sey, Jersey, and Newcastle, put in here ir} conk• quenca-of her being in a very leaky state, having an countered a heavy gale of wind; the American ship Dryad, BACON, from London, with passengers, bound to America, put in here by contrary winds. Sailed the Morning Star Cartel, Capt. LAVIS, for Morlaix, with several French Gentlemen. A French lugger privateer attempted to cut off the American ship Dryad that arrived here this morning, when within the Eddystone Light-house, and making for this port, but finding it impossible, she tacked and stood to sea again : the Master of the Dryad states, that he fell in with three French lugger privateers between the Downs and this port, but had the good fortune to escape them all. Arrived the Henrietta, ARMSTRONG, from Sun derland; Union, TRENAMAY, from Death; Sibyl, - WEBB, from Chepstow and rishding, DucK ; from Chichester. Poarsmourx, JAN. 2.—Came into Harbour the Leyden, 64 guns, Captain T. USFIER, and the trans port, No. 371, both from Spithead. Arrived the Rose, Captain Taos. MANSELL, from North Yarmouth. HULL, JAN. I.—The Prince William armed ship arrived at Grimsby on Friday se'nnight, with he Prussian bark Resolution, from Copenhagen, ladena with oak staves ; which vessel had been taken from the master by the mate and part of the crew, who were steering with her for Norway. On Thursday se'nnight, the Agenaria, HOGARTri. of Berwick, arrived at that port. She • sailed from this port on the 16th ult. was at sea during the storm with a valuable cargo, and no intelligence having been heard of her, it was feared that all had perished. The Liberty, ELLENER, of Sunderland, foundered off the Spurn about a fortnight ago. The crew took to the boat, and after remaining in it eight boors, were picked up by a vessel bound to Dundee, and landed at Holy Island. DEAL, JAN. 2.—Saileci his ,Majesty's ships Blake, Theseus, and Resolution, to Sheerness, to refit; th• Royalist sloop of war, on a cruize off Dungeness. The Lady St. John, PAYNE, from Liverpool IQ New Brunswick, is lust in the Bay ut . Fundy; crew saved. . INDIA-Housa.-Yesterday a Court of Direaora was held, when Sir HUGS iNGLIS, Bart. was unanio mously . appointed a Member ot Secret Com mittee ot three during the present .Diredion, in the room of Sir WM. BENSLEY, Bart deceased. The undermentioned tunes were fixed for the ships David Scott and Cirencester; the former con signed to Madrass and China, viz.-•-tp sail to Graves- endsthe 14th instant, stay there £0 days, and be in the Downs on the 13th of February. The ships Bombay and Royal George, for China direct, were ordered to be afloat on the *oth instant, sail to Gravesend the 3d of February, stay there 30 days, and be in the Downs un the 12th ot March. Yesterday Sir DAVID DUNDAS held a public day at his Office in the Horse Guards, and gave audience to several Military ()dicers. The French papers speak openly of the great change about to take place in the Government of Holland. It has had the effect, they confess, of increasing considerably the price of colonial produce, particularly of sugar: In ) ode of the i'aris Journals we find it asserted, that the Toulon fleet, of i t sail of the line, had pas sed the Straits of Gibraltar. This assertion is, we have every reason to believe, unfounded. There is no foundation for the report that Cribb and Gulley are matched against each other. The first is under recognizance to keep the_peace and the latter means to adhere w the declaration he made alter his last contest with Gregsoh never to fight a pitched battle. - A Common Hall is to be held on Tuesday next, to receive-the Report of the Sheriffs relative to the Actress voted at the last Common Hall. . The extensive island of Icelaud, so little favoured by minim, and solittle frequented by stq.ngers, io receive in the Spring, a pleasure party fiat') Erag-. land, consisting of several persons of , cuusiderable, Tnese genth,nien intend first to visit Hecla and the water-spouts, and then to proceed iu exploring so much of the country 211 Icelandie summer will permit. Iceland,equal in, extent to England, is precluded 6y its from many of the comforts Of life, but affords, however, uinberless attractions worth% of a curious or a scien tific traveller. It is said that Shetl..nd and the Faro Islands will also be included in this unusual tour. I The Picture of the Kinvf of PERSIA, which so at traCted the attention of the Fel ,ian Ambassador at the India House on Friday, was presented to the Court of Directors by the Marquis WELLF.NLEY, on his return from India. It is not usual for the Go vernor-s -General to receive any presents from foreign Princes; but the King of PERSIA gave this pidure to Colonel MALcoLm, with particular injundions to present it to the MarquisWo.LEstuY, as a testimony of his personal es eem ; and under these circum stances it Was accepted by the Noble Lord, and by hom, afterwards presented, with other curiosities, to the Court of Directors, through Dr. WILKINS, the 4.4.ra . riAa of the 4att India Company. .Sa yo the isut COI th dec teal Mr (Nu) me) prop men my i that the . I SI of at Coor In deep( Mdje late p With thent. afford you td I the Si: ie& tondu Itripor no in decepl States 11) tentio: Irote6 states height 'lance N; AI bi keot, h t q a co t WO CO . Wit s ldera t i t:4;ltdiel I. .011,